


Crossbow Troubles

by Higgystar



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, twd kink meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 12:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1305580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgystar/pseuds/Higgystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from the kink meme: As adept as he is with the crossbow, Daryl has a bad habit of running into things with it and giving himself a black eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossbow Troubles

Daryl’s watched Merle be a badass since he can remember. His big brother had always been a tough guy, loud and strong with the muscles and strength to prove it. When he’d been younger he’d wanted to be just like him and though since he’s gotten older that has changed he still appreciates everything Merle had taught him over the years. The best lesson he’d learnt by far had been how to use the crossbow.

He’d barely been a teenager when Merle had taken him out for the weekend, a hunting trip just for the two of them, him eager and almost hopping after Merle as he’d led him further and further into the woods. They’d set up camp and finally after what felt like ages of getting water ready and a fire going, Merle had let him hold the crossbow for the first time.

“Now it aint a toy ya hear? It’s a weapon, it’s meant to kill, to hurt so you never point it at something unless you mean to kill it.” Daryl remembers nodding along, greedy fingers already snatching at the bow and gazing down the sight. “It’s better than a gun, easier to maintain, you can make your own ammo and quiet, animals don’t know what hit ‘em till they’ve got a bolt through the eye.”

First time he’d fired it he’d almost fallen over from the kick back, stumbling back into Merle’s chest and arrow flying wide of their makeshift tree trunk target. Merle had laughed, he’d scowled and then Merle had laughed even harder when he wasn’t strong enough to pull back and reload. That had caused a slight scuffle, the pair of them swearing and spitting at each other like a couple of angry cats before it fizzled out into their next lesson. Merle had stood behind him, taller, stronger and helping him reload the bolt and tug the string back into place before assisting him in aiming, learning how the cross bow worked and how his body should react to it.

Then they’d gone tracking and it had all gone to shit. Merle had allowed him the crossbow so he’d taken the chance to show off, keeping his eye to the sight as he’d stalked a hare, wanting to bag themselves some dinner. Then it had all gone to shit in two seconds flat.

“Fuck!”

The hare went sprinting away, Merle starting pissing himself laughing and Daryl was wincing in pain as he rubbed at his eye. Damned crossbow. He’d been stalking quite happily but it turned out that tree weren’t as far to his left as he’d thought and before he knew it the bow hit the bark and had jolted back into his eye. Letting the bow hang from its strap to point at the floor he rubbed at his face, turning away from Merle’s laughter and attempting to hide his embarrassment.

“Aw now did baby Darylina get a boo boo?” He flinches when Merle’s hand lands on his shoulder, trying to turn him around and see his misery. “Now don’t be like that, let me see.” Grumbling loudly he lets his hands fall away, showing Merle his half closed eye and the swelling already starting to form around it.

Merle’s fingers are surprisingly gentle as they probe at his injury, stroking across his watering eye and checking for anything that shouldn’t be there. “It bad?” Daryl asks, wanting to rub at it some more, as if that would help and finding Merle slapping his hand away before he could even think about it.

“Well you’ll have a shiner for a few days, but we’ll just tell everyone the other guy came off worse.” Merle chuckles, rubbing his knuckles over Daryl’s head and ruffling his hair into even more of a mess than usual. “Now come on dipshit, you gotta learn to use that bow properly and catch us some dinner.”

\---

They’ve gotten a system into place over the Winter, they know where each other are instinctively and work effectively as a team. Clearing the houses they squat in each night has gotten easier, even the kid was pulling his weight and helping out, keeping them safe and scoping out every nook and cranny. They prefer not to use guns if they can help it, too much noise and too much trouble usually follows, so as usual he relies on his crossbow for the silent kill.

Walkers fall easily and they step over their corpses as they continue to clear the house, Daryl can hear Rick covering him from behind as he goes to check the last room, reaching out for the door handle with his eye to the sight and ready to fire. He knows Rick can read him, see in his body language when he’s ready to pounce and swing the door open, following easily to back him up should he need it.

“Fuck!” Daryl hisses, biting on his lower lip to keep himself from causing more noise and squinting through his watering eye to double check the room was clear. Shit, it wouldn’t do to allow a walker to slip by him because he’d gone and hurt himself. Thankfully the last room is clear and he can feel the tension seep out of Rick’s shoulder’s beside him, relieved that the house is clear and they’re safe for the night.

“You all right?” Daryl flinches when Rick’s hand reaches out to him in the low light, and it’s a testament to how well Rick knows him that he doesn’t question it.

“Yeah ‘m fine.” He grumbles, moving his hand up to rub at his sore eye, feeling like an idiot for making an all too common mistake. Kicking at the doorframe he tries to hide the fact that his eye fucking hurts, not wanting to seem weak in front of Rick, give the man a reason to laugh at his ineptitude with his favourite weapon.

They comb through the last room, looking for supplies, hunting out any possible food or items they could use for the group. At finding a cracked mirror caked in scum, Daryl reaches out to wipe at the grime, taking a look at his swollen eye and pressing at it with a wince. Damn that thing could still pack quite a punch when mishandled. Grumbling to himself he meets Rick’s gaze in the reflection and growls at the smirk he can see on the other man’s face.

“Let me see, got to make sure you’ve not got anything in it.” Rick’s voice is that same one he uses on Carl, when he wants to help the kid with something but not seem too much like a hovering parent at the same time. It makes Daryl feel ridiculous, but he turns around all the same to let the man look. Rick’s fingers are gentle, turning Daryl’s face into the light so he can see better. “Nah you’re good.”

Yanking his head back Daryl continues searching the room, even though he knows there’s nothing worth taking with them, unable to meet Rick’s eye, feeling the fool. “Aint my fault, fucking doorframe aint wide enough.”

Rick nods, folding his arms and looking all relaxed as if they’re just chatting about the weather. “Gotta watch out for those doorways, tough bastards I hear, worse than Walkers.”

Glancing up Daryl can’t see any ridicule in Rick’s face, more just like friendly banter. It was kind of like Merle’s kind of friendly mocking, something he knew. “Damn right.” He shoulders the traitorous cross bow and brushes past Rick to head back downstairs to the rest of the group, eager to scout out the perimeter and maybe find them some dinner. “Think you can handle them if I head out?”

For what it’s worth Rick gives a hollow chuckle, possibly the first instance of laughter he’s shown since the farm. “Yeah.” Rick nods for him to go ahead, giving his permission and Daryl has to admit to finding him a decent leader in these tough times. “Yeah I got it, I’ll see if I can find you an eye patch whilst I’m at it.”

“Screw you.” Daryl snorts, turning to head out, rubbing at his eye absentmindedly as Rick sees him out the front door way.

“Don’t let the door frame hit you on the way out.”

Rick gets a raised middle finger for that one.


End file.
